Eric Elwood is a former Irish
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player from
Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...
. He played as a
fly-half
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...
. He played for
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
internationally, and provincially for
Connacht
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...
. He split his club career between hometown club
Galwegians and
Lansdowne Lansdowne or Lansdown may refer to:
People
* Lansdown Guilding (1797–1831), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines naturalist and engraver
*Fenwick Lansdowne (1937–2008), Canadian wildlife artist
* George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) ...
in Dublin, starting and finishing his career in Galway, with a stint playing with Lansdowne in the 1990s. Elwood earned 35 caps for Ireland, scoring 296 points for the side. He played 168 games for Connacht scoring 1,152 points. He was the first Connacht player to make 100 appearances for the side, while his points tally is still the greatest ever recorded for the team. Elwood also made a single appearance for international invitational side the
Barbarians
A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...
before being capped by Ireland.
After retiring from playing, Elwood went into coaching. He served as assistant coach for Connacht and then as coach of the
Ireland under-20 side, where he won a Grand Slam in 2007. In 2010, he became head coach of Connacht and led the team to the
Heineken Cup for the first time. He held this position until his decision to resign at the end of the
2012–13 season. He has since taken a variety of roles within the provincial set up, taking the role of Domestic Rugby Manager in 2015. Elwood returned to first team coaching in 2016 when he became kicking coach. In 2017, he moved roles again when he was appointed head of the Connacht Academy.
Playing career
Elwood made his debut for Connacht against Scottish North & Midland, at inside centre, on 18th September 1989. He scored the first of his 8 tries for Connacht a month later, 21st October 1989, against Munster in the Sportsground when tries were still only worth 4 points.
He was the first Connacht player to score over 1,000 points for the province. By the time he made his final appearance, against Sale on the 24th of April 2005, Elwood had scored 8 tries, 141 conversions, 7 drop goals and 268 penalties, a total of 1,152 points.
His number of appearances for Connacht was also the record until November 2009, when
Michael Swift overtook him.
When Elwood was first capped for
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, he was playing for
Lansdowne Lansdowne or Lansdown may refer to:
People
* Lansdown Guilding (1797–1831), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines naturalist and engraver
*Fenwick Lansdowne (1937–2008), Canadian wildlife artist
* George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (1666–1735) ...
, but he later returned to
Galwegians, the club of his youth.
Elwood played 35 times for Ireland and scored a total of 296 points. This total places him at number four in the all-time points scorers for Ireland.
He also participated in two Rugby World Cups, in the
1995 tournament which took place in South Africa, and
1999's tournament, in France. He made his last appearance for Ireland coming on as a substitute in their play-off loss to
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
at the 1999 World Cup in
Lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...
. Eric also participated in the inaugural
1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens held in Murrayfield, where the
Ireland Squad reached the semi-final, losing out to eventail runners up Australia.
In 1993, Elwood was called up for the
Barbarians
A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...
invitational side. He played against at
Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British ...
. The Barbarians lost the game 12–25, with Elwood scoring all of the team's points, converting four penalties.
Elwood also played
Gaelic Football for
Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...
appearing in the 1990 Connacht Football Final defeat to Roscommon.
Coaching career
Following retirement from playing for Connacht, Elwood worked as an assistant coach for the province. Elwood was coach to the
Ireland Under-20 for a time in 2006 and 2007. He coached the team to a grand slam in the
2007 Six Nations Under 20s Championship
The Six Nations Under 20s Championship is an international rugby union tournament. It is the under-20s equivalent of the Six Nations Championship. Originally the tournament was in an under-21 format but changed to under-20s in 2008 Six Nations ...
.
Elwood took over from
Michael Bradley as director of coaching at Connacht following the end of the
2009–10 season. Elwood was in charge of Connacht for their
Heineken Cup appearance in the
2011–12 competition, thanks to Leinster winning the
2011 Heineken Cup Final
Eleven or 11 may refer to:
*11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12
* one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11
Literature
* ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn
*''El ...
. Connacht lost their first five matches in the pool stages, claiming losing bonuses in both of their ties with
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
. In the final game of their pool, however, they managed an upset, beating
Harlequins 9–8 in the
Galway Sportsgrounds
The Sportsground, also known as The Galway Sportsgrounds and the Galway Greyhound Stadium and the Connacht Rugby Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Galway, Ireland. It opened in 1927, with the playing of a football match and has been used to ...
, which prevented the
Premiership club from topping the group, and knocked them down into the
Amlin Cup.
He also coached the team in the
2012–13 Heineken Cup, with the team winning three of their pool matches. The victories came in the home and away ties with newly formed
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
professional team
Zebre
Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...
, along with a victory at home to
2009–10 finalists and
2011–12 Challenge Cup winners
Biarritz.
In October 2012, Elwood announced he would be departing as Connacht coach at the end of the 2012–13 season, and he was succeeded as coach by former
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...
international and
Auckland Blues head coach,
Pat Lam
Patrick Richard Lam (born 29 September 1968) is a rugby union coach and former player. He is currently Director of Rugby at Bristol Bears in England's Premiership Rugby.
Born in New Zealand, he represented New Zealand in schools and under-21 ...
.
References
External links
*
Sporting heroes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elwood, Eric
1969 births
Living people
People from Galway (city)
Rugby union players from County Galway
Irish rugby union players
Ireland international rugby union players
Connacht Rugby players
Galwegians RFC players
Barbarian F.C. players
Irish rugby union coaches
Connacht Rugby non-playing staff
Ireland international rugby sevens players
Lansdowne Football Club players